Portrait of Mary Frances Winston Newson

Birthday profile

Mary Frances Winston Newson

Mary Frances Winston, American mathematician (died 1959)

Born
August 7, 1869
Died
December 5, 1959
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1869

About Mary Frances Winston Newson

Mary Frances Winston Newson (August 7, 1869 – December 5, 1959) was an American mathematician. She became the first American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics from a European university, namely the University of Göttingen in Germany. She was also the first person to translate Hilbert's problems into English. == Early life == Mary Newson was born Mary Frances Winston in Forreston, Illinois, the name Newson being the name of the husband she married. She was always known as May by her friends and family. Her parents were Thomas Winston, a country doctor, and Caroline Eliza Mumford. Thomas Winston had been born in Wales but had come to the United States at the age of two years with his parents. Caroline had been a teacher before her marriage, teaching French, art and mathematics. Mary was one of her parents' seven surviving children. She was taught at home by her mother, who had taught herself Latin and Greek so that she could prepare her children for a university education.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Mary Frances Winston Newson was born

Mary Frances Winston Newson was born in 1869. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1869

  • Best-selling bookWar and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineTranscontinental Railroad completed at Promontory Summit
  • Technology milestoneSuez Canal opens
  • World population~1.49B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderUlysses S. Grant
  • U.S. population35.6M

1869 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Mary Frances Winston Newson's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18692026
Population35.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, VIAF, German National Library, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

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